ALEXANDRIA, VA. -- Michael J. Smith, previously an earth-science and geology teacher at the Charter School of Wilmington, joined AGI in February as its new Director of Curriculum Development. Smith will direct the design and implementation of AGI's two curriculum development projects — EarthComm for high school students and EarthWorks! for middle school students. He will also lead AGI in its mission to advance the teaching of earth science, engage the geoscience community in that mission, and promote teacher training. "I think AGI is in a unique position to have a major impact on earth-science education," Smith says. That position, he adds, is strengthened by the release in 1996 of the National Research Council's National Science Education Standards. "For the first time, we have national standards with an earth-science focus."

While at the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned his Ph.D. in education in 1995, Smith designed a middle-school curriculum on earthquakes and volcanoes that used alternative assessment methods. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the curriculum was tested by students in the Pittsburgh Public Schools system. Instead of giving the students tests to assess their acquired knowledge, the curriculum challenged them to define the potential risk the Pittsburgh area faced of a damaging earthquake or volcanic eruption. The students conducted geological research and, to demonstrate their knowledge, composed a letter to the Allegheny County Commissioner describing the degree of risk. Teachers adapting to the new curriculum faced new challenges as well, Smith says. He adds that AGI's EarthComm, currently in its final design stages, fits this model of inquiry-driven learning. "It's not just a new curriculum. It calls for a new way of instructing and assessing students." AGI and the geoscience community need to support the teacher training required to enact EarthComm and the Standards, he says.

Smith has designed high-school science courses and college courses in science education. He also holds his master's degree in geology (Rice University, 1985) and bachelor's degree in geology (The College of Wooster, 1982). He worked as an exploration geologist for Shell Oil Co. from 1982 to 1988, when he started his doctoral studies while teaching earth science at Shady Side Academy Middle School in Pittsburgh. He worked as an assistant professor of science education at the University of Delaware until 1997 and taught at the Charter School of Wilmington from 1996 until he joined AGI.